Eternity
by The Fandom Cookie
Summary: At the end of the Titan War, Percy chose immortality over love. Years passed as he watched all of his friends age and die. He finds himself and Thalia mourning Annabeth and Grover. When he decides to spend time in the mortal world again, Aphrodite decides to make things right by enlisting the help of Hades. Percy goes through the pain of finding Annabeth, reincarnated from death
1. Chapter 1

**yo. Fandom Cookie here~**

**Previously known as RainandFire**

**Wrote a Divergent fic once**

**I thought it was bad writing._.**

**Ill edit it someday**

**Anyways not sure about this one. Help?**

**Summary: **At the end of the Titan War, Percy chose immortality over love. Years passed as he watched all of his friends age and die. He finds himself and Thalia mourning Annabeth and Grover. When he decides to spend time in the mortal world again, Aphrodite decides to make things right by enlisting the help of Hades. Percy goes through the pain of finding Annabeth, reincarnated from the Isles of the Blest. Only this time, will Percy choose love over immortality?

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY PART OF PERCY JACKSON. THOSE CREDITS GO TO RICK RIORDAN WHO IS THE GOD OF TROLLING**

**(Because seriously, falling into Tartarus?) Ideas are mine but characters are his**

**Chapter One:  
**

_Percy stared at Zeus, stunned, as if he didn't hear him properly. "A god." He said slowly. "You want to turn me into a god."_

_Zeus rolled his eyes. "Yes, you idiot."_

_Percy thought it over. A god. He could be at his father's side, immortal, powerful, and maybe he'd have a chance to finally learn who his father was. An inner voice told him: But what about your friends? And Camp Half-Blood? Chiron? Grover? Annabeth? Annabeth. Percy wasn't sure what their friendship was so far. He thought about everything they had gone through together, all those quests and danger. But then he thought about immortality. Surely, with everything Annabeth was capable of, she would be offered immortality sometime during her life._

_He turned back to Zeus and met the god's eyes. Staring at Annabeth from the corner of his eye, he could see she was tense and pale. He wondered if she was going to approve of what he was going to do._

_"Yes," said Percy, straightening up, "I accept." Turning back, he smiled, only to falter as he locked eyes with Annabeth. She didn't look that well, pale and shivering. She managed a smile and promptly fainted._

_"Oh gods, oh gods." Percy panicked, running for her. Apollo reached her the same time he did, passing it off as the pain from the wounds she'd gotten during the battle._

Percy bolted upright in his bed, sweating pouring off him. Was that even possible? Sweating underwater? The thought of it was kind of redundant. He threw the covers off him and curled into a ball. The nightmares were coming back. Each year, for some reason, on the day he chose to become a god, he'd dream about his choice over and over again. Pausing to listen as he heard a noise, he frowned. Who could be up this late?

"It's all your fault!"

"No its- argh stop shoving me! I'll curse you with a bad case of acne"

"If you dare, I will personally see that I hunt down each and every one of your daughters boyfriends."

From the sounds of it, it was Thalia and Aphrodite going at it again. Ignoring the altercation, he turned over, closing his eyes, only to picture Annabeth. The name hurt too much to even say, let alone think about.

"For the last time," Aphrodite argued, "It's not my fault he's so oblivious to love."

Thalia rolled her eyes, "You're the freaking _goddess_ of love. I expected you to at least give him a hint." She jabbed her thumb at Percy's closed door.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes and strolled over to the couch and lounged comfortably in it. "The boy is merely too dense to see what he has and doesn't realize it until it's gone." Producing a box out of nowhere, she said, "Bon-bon?"

Sighing, Thalia strode towards Percy's room, kicked the door open and said, "Get up."

Percy opened one eye and closed it. "Go away."

Thalia yanked him up by the arm and said, "No, not until you stop moping. Each week you go into one of your moods and starting writing poetry or singing love songs." She rolled her eyes, "You're scaring the fish away."

Percy sat up. "Why are you even here? Shouldn't the water pressure be crushing you to death."

"Your dad let me in Seaweed-Brain."

Percy held a hand up. "Don't." It hurt too much, Annabeth, his life, everything.

"Well what do you want? Spend another century getting over her? Wishing you go go back and redo everything? Fat chance. She's _dead_ Percy, _dead._ So get up off your sorry butt, stop moping over something that happened over a hundred years ago and get out into the world and go visit camp. Sitting in your room for another few decades won't get you anywhere, so stop your self- pitying and get on with your life."

Shakily standing up, he pointed at the door. "Out." When she didn't move he raised his voice. "Out. Now." Thalia took one look at his room, a clutter of objects and clothes. She shrugged and stepped out. "Your loss." She gave him a look and with that, she slammed the door.

The Olympians didn't hold impromptu meetings with discussions on a mere mortal. Wait no, Zeus frowned. Mere _immortal._ That rascal Percy Jackson was a god. And now here they were, talking about that decision he had made. Even Hades was here, which meant this conference had to be important. Stupid Percy Jackson, why couldn't Poseidon have just stayed in his underwater palace? Well, Zeus did have to admit, he was being a hypocrite in a way.

His daughter, Thalia, stood in the center of the room. He sat up straighter, prouder even, and focused his gaze on her. The only person in the room who could match his pride was Artemis.  
Thalia bowed and began, "I've requested your audience to address a problem. Percy Jackson."

"He's _always_ a problem." Ares shouted from his throne. Athena's mouth twitched.

Zeus shot him a glare. "Let her finish."

Thalia continued. "Percy hasn't been quite.. right. Ever since he turned into a god and he left his friends and Camp Half-Blood he seems darker, depressed even."

"Oh come on," Aphrodite called out. "We all know what's his problem is, it's that girl." She shot a look at Athena, who frowned and said, "She died fifteen years ago. Quite a quiet and normal life, age of a hundred, although she never married."

Aphrodite looked to Zeus, "Fathe- My Lord, if you grant me permission I will help Thalia help Percy."

Zeus looked towards his brother, Poseidon, who had been quiet throughout the whole conversation. "What do you think we should do? The boy is your son, after all."

Poseidon looked up, weary and resigned. Stroking his chin, he nodded at Thalia and Aphrodite, "Let them do what they want. Percy cannot spend his life wasting away down there. The loss of Annabeth and all of his friends have damaged him. I only want the best for Percy and making him a god didn't do that."

Zeus nodded and with that, the council adjourned.

Thalia dragged Aphrodite into the gardens. "What the hell happened back there? I thought you weren't going to help me with this."

Aphrodite gestured around. "We both have our motives in this. You want to help Percy, I want my share of the fun."

Thalia narrowed her eyes. "What are you up to?"

"I like to meddle around in other people's love affairs, cause drama and watch the things some people are willing to do to earn love. Percy and Annabeth are a tragic story, more tragic than Romeo and Juliet."

Thalia frowned. "Annabeth died and Percy's immortal."

"Potato. Potahto." She waved her hands carelessly. "Anyways, that won't be true for long." Aphrodite's cunning smile made Thalia uneasy.

"Just what are you up to exactly?"

The goddess laughed and flicked her hair over one shoulder. "Oh this is going to be so much fun, and _you_ are going to help me.

When the goddess had finished telling Thalia her plan, she wasn't sure she wanted to go through with this. For one, she had to visit Hades. And that meant seeing the souls of all her friends and enemies. But this was for Percy, and she was going to suck it up and do it.

Down in the Underworld, Thalia maneuvered around the traffic in the Fields of Asphodel. Not making eye contact with anyone, she hurried to the palace looming in the darkness. Requesting an audience with the violent and unstable Hades was the last thing she wanted to do but it was her duty. She hoped that Aphrodite was right about him and anger management

Hades was in the throne room, listening to a ghost addressing issues going on in the realm of the dead. Queen Persephone was nowhere to be found. "Enough." He waved his hand at the ghost when Thalia arrived. "Daughter of Zeus, what do you want?" He leaned back, sounding bored.

"Er.. Lord Hades, we, Aphrodite and I that is, were wondering whether we could..uh.. speeden up the process of Annabeth's reincarnation by fifteen years."

"Done." He shooed her off. "Next!"

"Wait. What? You're agreeing to this?"

"I certainly am." Hades sounded pleasant, for once in his life. "Next!"

"But- I thought-"

"Do you want your friend or not?" Hades demanded.

"Er yes but-"

"Go! Miles will take you there." He gestured the ghost who had been reporting to him minutes ago.

Thalia slowly walked towards the doors, watching as Hades granted anothers ghost's request for a retrial at the judge's court. "Oh! And remember, don't look back." Hades shouted after her. She shook her head, shuddering at the thought of Orpheus and his wife Eurydice. Glancing back one more time at Hades, she thought, what ever medication he was on, it was strong.

Back in the Fields of Asphodel, she shuddered, walking among the dead. She followed Miles towards Elysium. Passing into it, she never thought she'd see the inside of it, not at least for another few centuries, or until her death. The artificial sunlight dazzled her eyes, as she took everything in. Elysium was surely what she had imagined as paradise. Feeling a brief flicker of guilt, she felt bad for taking Annabeth away from this. But Annabeth would be with Percy.

"Wait here." Miles's lifeless eyes bore through her. He shuffled away, leaving Thalia feeling nervous. She rubbed her bracelet cautiously, waiting for the slightest sign of danger. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the sweet perfumed air. "Thalia?" A masculine voice came from behind her. Standing very still, she turned around slowly. The face confirmed her fears. Luke Castellan was standing behind her, looking very much alive. The blood drained from her face. "Hey,er- Luke."

"What's going on?" He looked confused. "Did you die?"

"Not exactly. I'm here for Annabeth."

Luke nodded, as if he understanded. "Aphrodite's a part of this isn't she?"

Thalia stepped back. "What? How did you know?"

Luke's eyes radiated sadness. "She's tried this several times already. Never once has it succeeded."

Thalia felt his words as a blow to her stomach. "So what happens in the end?"

Luke shrugged. "What love always does to them. Madness. Death. Broken beyond repair."

They both stood there, watching the horizon.

Miles returned with a soul that shone so brightly that Thalia couldn't even see who it was. "Is that Annabeth? Wow."  
"Lead her to the mortal world but don't ever look back. Take her to Olympus." Miles droned. He gestured to the gates of Elysium. Thalia reached out, unsure if she could touch Annabeth's hand.

Suddenly a glow as bright as a supernova encased them. Thalia shut her eyes, stumbling back. She fell onto someone, knocking them both down.

"Oof!" Thalia opened her eyes and scrambled up. Aphrodite glared at her, shoving her off and dusting off her dress. "When I said to come back quick I didn't mean dropping out of the sky." Her eyes raked over her to Annabeth. She smiled. Grabbing both of their hands, she hurried them towards another building. Inside, she waved a hand in Annabeth's face. "Hey- hi? You awake? Great. What's your name."

Annabeth frowned. "Uh- Annabeth. Did you lose a couple of brain cells when I died?"

Thalia hide her grin. Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "This means she still has her memory." Striding towards the center of the room, she knelt down and began pulling things out of her sleeve. Thalia realized that they were in Aphrodite's temple.

"Hey, last I checked, I died, like, fifteen years ago." Annabeth called after her. Aphrodite glanced back, a twinkle in her eye. "And I promised to help Percy."

"Percy?" Annabeth frowned. "What's wrong? Is he okay?"

"Meh. I wouldn't call dying okay."

"_What!?_"

"Oh don't worry, it's of a broken heart." Aphrodite stood up, holding a glass full of clear liquid. "Now drink this if you want to help him."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't it a rule to never accept food from a god or goddess?"

Aphrodite sighed. "Someday you'll learn to trust me. Plus, that was because Persephone went and ate those pomegranates. Now drink."

Upon doing so, Annabeth promptly collapsed into Thalia's arms. "What the hell did you do to her?" Thalia struggled to let her down gently.

"Just a mere potion. She'll come around. Now all we have to do is send her to the city, get Percy out into the world and let them fall in love again." Aphrodite exclaimed gleefully. "Now go, I've set everything up; her parents are living around 34th street somewhere."

"Oh gods." Thalia muttered, dragging off her friend. "What have I gotten myself into?"

**A/N **

**huehuehue **

**Aphrodite has tricks up her sleeves, Thalia has a lot of work to do, Percy has to do some convincing, and Annabeth can just sit back and let things happen.**

**Review?**

**I feel like no one will read it so it makes me feel better if some reviews or does something to get me to notice.**

**Sorry this took so long, I've got a lot of schoolwork but I'll try to write more**

**~TFC **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

**Not a lot of action in this but hopefully it'll progress faster. Now I'm wondering do you guys want this to be a camp fic or a school fic?**

**Meaning either this whole Percy/Annabeth conundrum takes place at school or camp.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY PART OF PERCY JACKSON. THOSE CREDITS GO TO RICK RIORDAN WHO IS THE GOD OF TROLLING**

**(Because seriously, falling into Tartarus?) Ideas are mine but characters are his**

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

"Just how many people did you bring back to life?" Thalia stormed back into Aphrodite's temple. "Annabeth, her parents, her half- brothers. Holy Zeus, you should've brought back the whole Athena cabin from Hades."

Aphrodite frowned. This girl had a lot of spunk, talking to her like that. "We haven't even brought back the most crucial player this game," she said.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Gee, I wonder who that could be, seeing as you've brought back like half the people during my time at Camp Half-Blood."

"Once Percy gets off his butt and stops moping, we can add Annabeth to the equation."

"And have you not thought about how he will react to her?" Thalia's voice was cold and dangerous.

"Percy is hurt. He is also in love. But he is stuck in a state of self-pity and despair. Seeing her will be his wakeup call and bring him back to reality." Aphrodite's voice held no qualms about what she believed was to be the

right thing to do. "He needs to be able to do anything for love and we're going to make life hell of a lot more interesting for him."

Thalia nodded slowly, catching on. "So you want him to take a risk and give everything up." She frowned, going still. "You want him to-"

"Be willing to give up his immortality." Aphrodite spoke the words calmly. "Now it's time to go find Percy." The goddess grabbed Thalia's arm and they were gone.

Annabeth sat at her desk, frowning. The room she was sitting in didn't feel quite right. The pictures and papers spread across the desk felt like they were from a different time, when a different girl had been sitting there.

Everything was fine with her, but there was just something on her mind that she couldn't remember. She glanced out the window at the Empire State Building. Just looking at it gave her a strange feeling, like there was

something associated with that place. Down on the street below, people bustled around and taxis honked at that one car that wouldn't move. An eerie feeling settled over her as a dark shadow disappeared into the

alleyway between a diner and a supermarket. That was the second time it had happened today. Her gaze dropped to the Greek mythology book that had been on her bed earlier that day. _Well,_ she thought to herself,

_Why not get some reading done?_

The dreams were back. Percy was jolted back in time, to his conversation with Annabeth after the war.

_Percy met Annabeth by the elevator of Olympus. Minor gods and nymphs scurried around, each one minding their own business. The world was fine, for now._

_"So," Annabeth said, not quite meeting his eyes, "A god huh?"_

_Percy's happiness did not seem to be contagious. "Yeah," he ran a hand through his hair excitedly. "I figured that this meant I could be closer to my dad, since the prophecy's over and all. Maybe I could get a chance to have a father for once."_

_Annabeth frowned. "But what about your mom? And Paul? Isn't he technically your dad too? And what about Grover? Or Thalia? Or your friends at camp? Me?" She said the last part so quietly that Percy didn't hear her._

_Percy felt a bit annoyed. "Yeah, Paul's great and everything, but I can't always be there for my mom. I'm going to be on quests throughout the year. She and Paul should get some time to themselves. Plus Grover's on the _

_Council now, he probably won't have any time to hang out. Thalia's part of the Hunters, she won't be around much. Plus she's also immortal, we'll have time to chat."_

_Annabeth shifted awkwardly. "Yeah, I guess so."_

_Percy's eyebrows knit together. "Jeez, Annabeth, I thought you'd be happy for me. This is like a one in a lifetime chance. Why are you acting so weird? Are you jealous or something?" As soon as the words left his lips, he _

_instantly regretted it. Annabeth's stormy grey eyes sparked like lighting in a storm above the ocean._

_"Well, Percy," she spat viciously, "Have fun. Enjoy your time under the ocean. Visit camp if you even want to see your friends anymore." With that, she walked into the elevator._

_Percy knew he should've gone after her. He should've asked what was wrong, tried to do anything to calm her down. The last thing that he saw were her eyes, beautiful, grey, and contained a thousand emotions within._

_He wished that the last thing she felt that day wasn't an urge to punch his lights out._

They were back in Poseidon's palace. Thalia still couldn't get over the fact that she was here, down in this realm. Watching a school of fish pass above her, she turned to find Aphrodite several yards ahead of her,

determinedly walking towards the palace. Catching up to her, Thalia said, "So what's the plan?"

Aphrodite glanced at her. "I do the planning, you carry everything out. No questions asked. Got it?"

"Geez," Thalia muttered, "Who peed on your shrine? What's with all this secrecy?"

Aphrodite's fingers twitched. She wanted to turn Thalia into something, preferably a ferret. Banishing the thought, she stepped into Percy's quarters.

"Percy?" Thalia called out.

"Go away," Came the muffled response. Thalia crossed the room to the couch and pulled off the covers he had been hiding under. "What are- Oh Hades."

Percy looked like living hell. Dark circles were under his eyes, his hair messier than usual. Thalia shot a look at Aphrodite. A look that said clearly, y_ou fix this._ The goddess stepped in. "Percy, look at me." As soon as he did,

he passed out into a deep sleep. The goddess stepped over him, frowning. "This was much more worse than I expected. We'll have to get the plan started as soon as possible."

Thalia looked down at Percy with a mixture of pity, sadness and disgust. Percy was going to waste away down here, without Annabeth. Yet she couldn't help but think that he was becoming pathetic, moping around, doing

nothing. She hoped that Aphrodite knew what she was doing and that Luke was mistaken about the failures.

She really hoped so.

Percy woke up in a bright room. He groaned, passing a hand over his eyes. He couldn't recall how he got here. First, Aphrodite showed up with Thalia and then he'd passed out.

"Oh great, you're up." Thalia hovered over him.

"My eyes… They burn. Can you shut off that light?" He squinted at her. Thankfully, her figure blocked out most of the light. Thalia rolled his eyes, apparently not feeling very merciful. Percy swung his legs out of the bed and

stood up. "Whoa." The world suddenly jolted and he nearly did a faceplant onto the floor.

Thalia frowned down at him. "I know you probably haven't set foot on land in about six months but is kissing the floor really necessary?" She laughed and stuck out her hand to help him up.

"Where are we?" Percy said, following her out the door.

"Camp, the Big House." Thalia passed through the rec room as she walked down the hallway. "And _you_, are going to stay here." She threw open the door and a blast of hot air hit Percy in the face. The familiar

campgrounds of Camp Half-Blood brought back a sense of nostalgia for him. The volleyball/ basketball courts, the woods where he won his first capture the flag game, and the familiar yet strange layout of the cabins. The

strawberry fields where Grover would play his pipes (honestly he was pretty awful.)

Grover… Just the name brought a lump in his throat. The old satyr was probably gone now, turned into a laurel tree or something. How many of his friends had he neglected and forgotten about?

Staring at his cabin, number three, he remembered the herd of hippocampi on the ceiling, the familiar salty sea breeze that blew through the room.

"Percy?" Thalia snapped her fingers. "Um.. hello? Anyone home?"

He snapped back to reality. "What am I doing here?"

"You're going to train."

"For what? I'm perfectly fine. Hell, I'm a god; I don't think I need any more training than the Stolls needing encouragement to steal my underwear in the dead of night."

Thalia snorted. "Those were your boxers hanging in my old tree? Man who wears boxers with bacon on them? Anyways, you're pretty weak right now. I could take you on weaponless and still win." And to prove her point,

she tackled him down the stairs and pinned him there until he stopped struggling.

"Alright, fine you got me there." Percy dusted himself off and stood up. "What are we doing today?"

"Actually, more of you, not Thalia. She has to get back to leading the Hunters" The old centaur trotted up to them. "Welcome back." Chiron, Percy's old mentor hadn't changed a bit in the past decades.

"Chiron!" Percy started forward. Thalia blocked his way and muttered something under her breath that sounded like "Him too? Aphrodite is going to die."

"Er.. So is Mr. D still around?" Percy asked as they made their way down to the archery range.

"His sentence was over a few years back. He's on Olympus half the time and spends the other half getting drunk and trying to manage a wine business." Chiron galloped, carrying Thalia and Percy on his back.

On their way to the archery range, several campers stopped and stared, mouths open as they watched the group pass by. First off, Chiron was somehow here, carrying two kids on his back. Second, it was Percy Jackson

and Thalia Grace. The kids of the Big Three, the immortal ones; they were legends. Passing by a group of Aphrodite kids, one girl dropped her pocket mirror. Staring in awe, she stuttered. "Is that Percy Jackson?"

"Oh my god! No way! The movie producers definitely chose the wrong guy. Percy is soo much hotter." Her friend giggled.

A third butted in, "Logan Lerman is like, hot, what are you talking about?"

"Um," Percy whispered, "What the hell are they talking about?"

"Some guy at camp grew up to be a movie producer and made your story into a movie." Thalia muttered.

Thalia smiled grimly to herself as she heard this. It seemed that the news of Percy was traveling faster than Grover at the lunch line for enchiladas. At the archery range, a small group of kids were in the corner, watching

them shoot at the targets. Percy's failure at archery didn't faze anyone.

By dinnertime there were several rumours Thalia wanted to crush.

1) Percy's hair was insured for $10,000. Who the hell insures hair?

2) Percy met Logan Lerman on an airplane and was told that Logan wanted to be him. Percy hadn't been aboveground in a while, if he did, it was only to visit Olympus. Plus the whole Zeus-will-blast-him-out-of-the-sky thing was a problem.

3) Percy had a fight with Thalia and she had conceded to her defeat as a way of admitting Percy's superiority. There were so many things wrong with that sentence that Thalia wanted to punch a brick wall.

She couldn't wait for this all to be over before she put an arrow through someone.

Aphrodite twirled a lock of her hair in her fingers. She had to plot out each move carefully. Thalia was keeping an eye on Percy for her and she had another person tailing Annabeth. If things didn't go well, she could risk

losing both Annabeth and Percy. She remembered her past failures with so many other couples. No, it had- it _would_ work this time. Their love was too strong to sever, Percy would persevere and everyone would get a

happy ending. All she needed now was to get them together. She looked at her other accomplice, one that Thalia didn't know about. "Are you willing to help me and do what you have to?"

The figure in the shadows bowed his head before speaking. "I am at your command, goddess."

She smiled grimly. In the next few weeks, everyone's lives were about to get intense.

**A/N**

**Review?**

**AGAIN= **_**Do you guys want this to be a camp fic or a school fic?**_

_**Meaning either this whole Percy/Annabeth conundrum takes place at school or camp.**_

**I'll try to update like every week or so?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

**I just realized I write/ update whenever I feel inspired by angst/ sadness/ anger**

**Raging teenage hormones huh?**

**I've got A LOT of work lately so I won't be able to update much. Plus school's pretty much over soon and finals are coming**

**And one of my good friends is ignoring me. Eh, I'll fix that later. **

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY PART OF PERCY JACKSON. THOSE CREDITS GO TO RICK RIORDAN WHO IS THE GOD OF TROLLING**

**(Because seriously, falling into Tartarus?) Ideas are mine but characters are his**

* * *

**Chapter Three:**

_"You're so stupid!" Thalia Grace's image flickered unsteadily in the Iris message as sounds of whooshing arrows swished by and snarls filled the air._

_Percy frowned. "Well hello to you too, Miss. Sunshine."_

_Thalia rolled her eyes. "I can't exactly talk right now," she grunted, waving an arm behind her. She ditched her bow and unsheathed her hunting knife. "I'm in the middle of a __battle, if you're too blind to tell." A slash and a stab and a monster went down in front of her, crumbling into pieces of dust. "Anyways," she yelled over the din of the battle, "Go talk to Annabeth, she needs you." Thalia slashed with her knife and her image dissipated._

_Percy frowned. Why on earth would Annabeth want to talk to him? She rarely had time, since the Camp was trying to find new kids around the world to replace their fallen numbers. Plus, his last encounter with her seemed to imply that she hated his guts to Tartarus and back. He shrugged off Thalia's request and grabbed his trident, off to spar with a dolphin._

_Months had passed by and Percy was now finishing up his training as his father's lieutenant. Life had gone on, as normal, although things were a bit slow under the ocean. Olympus was somewhat quiet, save for the one incident in Canada where a group of Party Ponies had shown up out of nowhere, drunk and wild. They had raced through the streets of Ontario, causing a major shutdown of the city and the gods needing a few campers to erase the minds of the people. Other than that, things normal; Thalia was back leading her Hunters, Grover was doing Lord of the Wild stuff to preserve Pan's legacy, and Annabeth, well, she was finding ways to occupy her time. Percy's teacher, Chiron, kept him updated with Camp news and it seemed that every week Annabeth was either training and working non stop, assembling groups of kids for quests, and even leading a few herself. Percy rarely talked to her now and she was too busy to bother with him. When he tried to reach her, she would be away on a quest, or busy studying Daedalus's laptop for designs for her project of rebuilding Olympus. The few times he did reach her, she was withdrawn and quiet, not meeting his eyes and always looking at something beyond the Iris message. Those sessions never lasted long, he'd only contact her to find that she was busy or preparing to go to bed or go out. He wished that he hadn't left things the way they were when they last saw each other in person._

_A little while later, they stopped talking altogether._

Annabeth's new high school was very cliche, as in the typical high school setting with the groups of girls wearing fashion forward clothing, boys with their varsity jackets, and the entire social hierarchy at Goode High School. **(A/N. I'm not that creative and theres like 10000000 fics on this site with the same school so yolo)** She didn't like to classify herself with labels, but she had to be realistic. She didn't fit in well anywhere because she was too brainy, too knowledgeable and wasn't up to date on the current popular trends. She wished she could find someone, _anyone,_ at this place that she could be friends with.

"Oof!" Annabeth slammed into someone, breaking her out of her reverie. A guy looked up at her, scrambling to pick up her books.

"Sorry," he laughed lightly, running a free hand through his hair. He wasn't bad looking, she had to admit.

Annabeth smiled back, taking her books from him. "It's alright. I'm late for class." She scrambled to make it to the stairs before he could say another word.

"Just wanted to say hi, my name's…" The boy faltered, going over the lines he'd practiced so meticulously. He cursed loudly, causing a teacher to pass by and give him detention. The first day of school and he was already in trouble. Helping Aphrodite had to be worth this.

* * *

Percy got up early, walking down to the Long Island Sound to sit by the ocean. The familiar sea breeze whipped his hair back and forth. **(A/N huehuehue)** He walked into the water, going until he was chest deep. He wasn't drenched or anything, so it didn't matter. Going under, he dived as deep as he desired and let his eyes settle to the darkness of the water's depths. After speaking to a small shark who had passed by to keep him updated on the news under the sea, he watched it swim away. His dreams were getting more upsetting and he spent nights restless, thinking about Annabeth over and over. But that was all in the past now, he had to move on. Letting out a sigh, which immediately turned into a bubble of air, he kicked upward towards the surface.

At the dining hall, Thalia grabbed Percy's arm, pulling him aside from the breakfast line, ignoring questioning stares from the other campers. She was staying at Camp for another two week before she left to join up with her Hunters.

"Can't a guy get his breakfast first without having to hear he needs to save the world?" Percy half- joked, turning to her.

Thalia shook her head. "One war and he suddenly thinks he's god."

"By which, I am one, in case you've been living under a rock for some time."

"Chiron told me that he found another demigod somewhere in the city." Thalia cut to the chase.

Percy blinked, not catching on. "What does that have to do with us? Don't we have satyrs for that purpose?"

Thalia sighed. "You're really going daft aren't you? All those years under the ocean must've affected your brain. The satyrs are preoccupied with restoring the Wild, they're all around the world. We're the only two eligible to leave Camp as of now." The blank look on Percy's face told her that he wasn't registering with what she was saying. "Demigod. New York. Us. New York. No satyrs. Gods Percy, we're going to find this demigod and then I'm going to make sure you never get within a hundred feet of water again." She threw up her hands in exasperation.

Percy cracked a smile. Thalia hadn't changed during the last few years. "Ok," he nodded. "Let's go find this demigod."

* * *

"I told you to get close to her!" Aphrodite seethed, pacing around in the Iris message. "You were supposed to befriend her on her first day here." The goddess waved eager hand around the dingy room. Her accomplice bowed his head in reply, not wanting to spite her further. Wrinkling her nose, she added, "And couldn't you have chosen a more _pleasant_ rendezvous area?"

"You wanted something conspicuous, and this was safest." He responded. All he got in return was a "Hmph!"

"I tried, and I will keep trying, but can't you do something to control the situation?" He chose his words carefully.

Aphrodite huffed, "I am powerful, but these situations are not in my power. Mere friendship is different. She has to fall in love, or like someone, at the very least. If you don't hurry up, everything will fall apart." And with that, she waved her hand and the message faded out.

Unlocking the door of the bathroom, he stepped out and merged into the crowded hallway easily. Ignoring a few calls from some guys to have him join them in a soccer match after school, he scanned the crowds for Annabeth. Spotting her looking very lost by the water fountain, he hurried over. Grinning, he stuck his hand out, "Hey remember me?"

Annabeth turned towards him, relieved to see a familiar face. "Hey, sorry about this morning, I was in a rush and didn't want to be late on my first day."

He nodded, "Understandable, no offence taken. After all it's a huge school, big enough to get lost in. You need help getting anywhere?" She smiled gratefully, unfolding her schedule and showing him her next class. To his relief, it was also his next class.

Nodding, he led her to the staircase. "I'm going there too— we don't want to be late."

* * *

Percy and Thalia rode in Argus' car to the city in silence, which was a rather long time, considering it took about a hour from Camp to Manhattan. At last, the familiar skyline of Manhattan filled his vision, the tall Empire State Building domineering over the people below on the streets. Percy didn't like spending a lot of time on Olympus, Annabeth's works of art were stunningly beautiful, reminding him of her. Plus, other than fighting, the only thing the gods were able to do well was arguing.

Banishing his thoughts away, he turned to Thalia. "Who are we looking for exactly?"

She shrugged, "All I know is that it's a girl and she works at a frozen yogurt store after school. We'll know when we meet her."

Turning away, he closed his eyes and leaned against the headrest of the seat.

Thalia studied him, "You're thinking about her aren't you?"

Percy flinched inwardly, struggling to calm the tsunami of emotions that threatened to come crashing down on him. "Yes," he replied, after several moments of silence. Thalia didn't pursue the topic and he didn't continue any further.

* * *

Annabeth smiled, basking in the bright sunlight as she walked through the streets of New York, shifting her bag higher on her shoulder. Her day had gone quite well actually. Her parents had been worried that Goode wouldn't have a satisfactory curriculum for their daughter. She had been worried that no one would talk to her. However, Goode had several APs and she had even made a new friend, Castille. He had a weird name, claiming that it was his nickname from the guys on the soccer team.

Life was... warm, pleasant, and everything she could have hoped for. However, there was still this strange buzzing feeling she'd get every time she walked past 34th street. And recently, she had random, aching feelings of that she wanted. As if something was missing from her life. Shaking her head, Annabeth forgot her thoughts, wanting to just enjoying the warm September day. Soon her day would be over and she was free to go home. She hurried through the back door of a store, pausing to pull on an apron, ready to face another day of work.

* * *

Little kids were everywhere, screaming in excitement and eating the deliciously cold frozen yogurt. Upbeat music played from the speakers above, Katy Perry or something. Sunlight shined in brightly from the large glass doors, setting a bright, happy mood. Nodding with satisfaction, Percy realized that it was unlikely for any monsters to attack them at the moment. He and Thalia grabbed cups, going to several different stations to grab different flavors of froyo. Pausing to relish a blue raspberry flavor he secretly had taken a bite of, he was smacked on the head by Thalia.

"Ow! What was that for?" He rubbed his head.

"You didn't pay yet, plus, I think that's her." She nodded towards the front counter. A girl with her hair tucked up into a cap had just walked in, her back facing them. They made their way to the counter slowly, adding toppings to their cups. As they walked up to the counter to pay, Thalia froze, grabbing Percy's arm and pulling him back and spinning a way. "What the actual—"

"What's wrong?" Percy tried peeked around her cup of froyo in his face. Thalia threw herself in his line of view and blocked everything as best as she could.

Frowning, he said, "Thalia what's wrong with you? I just wanted to see who she looked like. If she's like really ugly or something, I promise I won't say anything offensive." He stepped around Thalia, leaving her to wait for his reaction. He stiffened. "Is that—"

"Yep," She confirmed his fears. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

* * *

**A/N**

**Review?**

**Again, I've got a lot of school work so I can't update much.**

**Awkward moment when you've finished a story and someone reviews and tells you to update? hehehe**

**I was editing my old story (because it sucks. a lot.) and I guess she didn't read that part**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**

**Review~~~**

**ANYONE EXCITED FOR TFIOS MOVIE AND MAZE RUNNER**

**ALSO FALLEN IS BEING MADE INTO A MOVIE ERMERGERD**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY PART OF PERCY JACKSON. THOSE CREDITS GO TO RICK RIORDAN WHO IS THE GOD OF TROLLING**

**(Because seriously, falling into Tartarus?) Ideas are mine but characters are his**

* * *

**Chapter Four:**

"Well, at least she isn't that ugly." Percy tried to sound upbeat and casual.

"Percy!" Thalia admonished, facepalming and hoping that no one had heard him.

"What? I'm serious, she doesn't look a day over a hundred and fifteen."

"I'm talking about the serious issue here. Since when was Rachel Elizabeth Dare alive? And a _hundred_ and fifteen years old."

"Hades is completely off his game. He's slacking off, he's gone off his rocker. Isn't he on like happy drugs or something?" Percy frowned.

"Yeah, that explains everything Aphrodite is doing now." Thalia muttered, too low for him to hear.

"Anyways, why is she a demigod? Last I checked she's supposed to be the Oracle of Delhi." He moved towards the counter, still holding his cup and Thalia followed suit.

Rachel looked up from the cash register, smiling. "How may I- Percy?" She broke off.

Percy looked at Thalia with an at-least-she-remembers-me look. Rachel ducked under the counter and another cashier took her place.

"Yeah, so, uh Rachel… 'sup?" Percy awkwardly tried to duck as she tried to hug him. Thalia snorted, Percy had a way with words. She stepped forward, cutting to the chase.

"You're supposed to be dead. We're alive due to immortality but you're somehow standing here, breathing and functioning. You're also like, a demigod and not the Oracle so can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on and _will you stop trying to hug Percy_?!" She was getting frustrated with the cat-and-mouse game of hugging. Rachel stopped abruptly.

"Sorry," she smiled. "I don't know what happened but I woke up a few days ago at my old home in Brooklyn but no one was there, it was totally deserted. So I got a job to support myself for now. Anyways, you said I'm a demigod? That somewhat explains the few shady people following me on the street. I don't the the spirit of the Oracle has left me though, cause I keep getting these weird glimpses of the past, present, and future but boy, am I glad to see you two."

Thalia pondered over this information. Surely Aphrodite wouldn't go and bring back all these people. This was crazy, even to make sure her plan succeeded. The Underworld must've been getting weaker, considering how many people it had let back out and reincarnated. Thalia would look into it as soon as she could. In the meantime, Rachel was her priority. Meeting the girl's eyes, she said, "Let's get back to camp first and then we'll figure it all out later."

* * *

They set up Rachel at a room in the Big House, since Chiron didn't know what to do with her either. Thalia disappeared for the rest of the afternoon and didn't show up at dinner either. Percy figured she had gone back to her Hunters. Before he went to bed, he held Annabeth's old Yankees cap in his hand, turning it over and breathing in her scent. Suddenly he couldn't breathe, his chest felt constricted and he tried to take deep breaths. A knot of hurt and longing rose into his throat. She was gone and he'd never be able to talk to her or see her again. His mind flashbacked to the day when he last saw her.

* * *

_"What are you doing here?" Annabeth stomped out into the turf. Percy grinned, rising out of the waves, Riptide hanging from his shirt pocket and a trident in hand. They had hardly seen each other in the last five years_

_"Well I figured since you were so unwilling to see me I'd come to see you." He strode out of the water, meeting her halfway._

_"Typical," she muttered. A few moments of awkward silence passed between them._

_"Er, so how's everyone?" Percy cleared his throat._

_Annabeth's temper flared. How dare he leave all of them, camp, and her, and still have the nerve to ask about them. "What does it matter to you? You left, and now you decide to pop up and ask how we're all doing? Well, we're fine without you. Camp is getting along fine; Thalia and her Hunters have been keeping monsters at bay and is working with camp to find new members for both groups. Grover and Juniper are in some weird marriage relationship stage and I'm just slowly wasting away, bored out of my mind. Why Camp is fine Percy, how has the last five years of your life been? Gods of Olympus you're dense." She threw herself on the sand and sat cross-legged, looking extremely pissed off._

_Percy was stunned, not knowing what to say or do. He sank on the sand and stretched his hand out. Water formed, twisting and turning until it made a sculpture. Encasing it in a bubble, he watched it as it turned into one of those snow globe souvenirs._

_"Truce?" He poked Annabeth with it. He watched as she took in the gift, a miniature Parthenon, with the details and all, down to the very last frieze that decorated the top of the building. She took it, overwhelmed by emotion and slowly reached out to hug him. But before she did, she suddenly leapt back._

_"No," she clutched the snow globe tightly. "Percy, leave."_

_Hurt, he got to his feet. "Why? What's wrong? What did I do?" He was shocked to see the tears leak out of her eyes._

_"Everything," she whispered, "Everything and nothing."_

_"Then why are you crying?"_

_"Because I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot for thinking things could change, but they never will."_

_Percy frowned. "Whoa, whoa, don't say things like that, life will get better, you're probably going through a rough patch right now, but things will get better."_

_Annabeth violently shook her head. "No, you have to go. I messed up, I screwed up my own life. I had false hope for something that wouldn't even have happened. I hoped too much."_

_Mystified, Percy tried to understand. "I don't get it, what exactly are we talking about now?"_

_"Gods!" Annabeth was consumed with rage at his obliviousness and his ignorance; she was hurt at how little he understood, and most of all, she hated herself for doing this to herself, for loving him so much. She threw down the snow globe at his feet, letting it shatter into beautiful shards, just like how her heart was breaking at the very moment. 'I love you Percy Jackson, and you're either the stupidest person on the face of this planet or extremely oblivious, if you haven't noticed anything by now. I've loved you all these years. Do you even know how much it hurts to be separated from you, to watch you stay forever young as I wither away? Did any of this even run through your mind when you chose to leave me?" By now the tears were streaming down her face. Percy felt as if he had been punched in the gut with all of this information. He'd never guess that she loved him. And him? Did he love her? Percy had been so oblivious to everything that he had ended up hurting her and himself in the process. Annabeth read his face as their eyes met._

_"Never mind," she said bitterly. "Leave."_

_Percy stood rooted to the spot on the beach. "I-"_

_"Percy." That one word from her lips conveyed so much emotion- hurt, sadness, anger, love- it made him look at her. "Please leave. I don't know if I can stand being around you anymore."_

_With that, she broke his heart and her own, driving a wedge between them. Percy stumbled into the crashing waves that reflected his thoughts, wild and stormy. Glancing back at her once more, he would remember for an eternity the way she sat huddled in a ball, the broken snow globe beside her as her gray eyes watched his retreating back and knew that he would never come back._

* * *

Percy hated reliving each nightmare every year. It constantly reminded him of his failure to see what he had and leaving it behind. He hated everything that reminded him of her, yet he couldn't bear to part with any of it. Shaking off the miserable thoughts, he grabbed his pen and went down to the fighting arena to practice. Stabbing things always made him feel better. During battle, he let his mind take over and it felt great, to let his hands control himself, to not think about anything but finding the weak spots in the armor.

Soft clapping startled him. He looked up into the stands, squinting. Rachel's unmistakable fiery red hair alerted him. They met halfway at the center of the arena.

"Hey," Percy smiled, trying not to show how upset he was.

"You're up early. What's wrong?" Rachel searched his face.

"Nah, couldn't sleep. Shouldn't you be at the Big House?"

"It's around dawn. I like sunrise." On cue, the sky above them burst into brilliant reds and golds, enhancing her hair.

They sat in the stands, watching the sun rise and the sound of campers waking up. Neither of them said anything for awhile.

"Do you still think about her? Annabeth, I mean," Rachel asked suddenly.

Percy jolted out of the stupor he had been going into from a lack of sleep. "Hmm? Every minute, everyday." He said quietly. Rachel nodded, looking away. Something was troubling her.

"What's wrong?" Percy tensed.

"Nothing, just.." she looked up. "I know she's long gone now and everything and I was probably hallucinating, but I was thinking, if I was let out of the Underworld, couldn't the same be said for her?"

The blood slowly drained from Percy's face, in both anticipation and worry. Annabeth alive? For a minute he was jubilant; he could see her again and make up for everything that had passed between them. Then he thought back to his last day with her. She had expressed her sentiments quite clearly. She never wanted to see him again. But that was in the past, surely she had changed her mind by now.

"Percy?" Rachel frowned, and he realized she was still talking. "Did you hear me? I said that I saw Annabeth in the city."

Percy's heart stopped for a second. "You WHAT?!" He sprang off the seat, shaking. "No, you're lying, she's dead." The realization hit him hard. He sank down, moaning, "She's dead. She's dead and it's all my fault."

"Percy," Rachel's gentle voice soothed him. "Nothing is your fault, she died naturally. Like I said, I was probably seeing the past and mixed it up with the present."

Thalia suddenly appeared. "Hey- What's wrong? Percy? Are you ok?" She bent down to check on him.

He kept repeating his words over and over. Thalia glared accusingly at Rachel. "Did you break him or something? What's he talking about?"

"Nothing, I mentioned that I saw Annabeth in the city but I might've been just seeing things. Plus if I escaped, she probably could do the same." Rachel watched as Thalia stiffened and slowly relaxed.

"You probably didn't get a good night's sleep." Thalia steadied her voice. Rachel eyed her carefully. She was hiding something that had to do with Annabeth.

"Yeah," she decided. "I probably didn't sleep well. Anyways, I need to get back to back to school before someone thinks I've been kidnapped."

* * *

Annabeth sat on her bed, staring at the orange sky turn quickly into blue. She absentmindedly traced a pattern on her plaid shirt. Her eyes focused on a round object at the end of her table. It was a snow globe with a glass Parthenon in the middle. She'd never seen it until this morning, when she woke up from a strange sensation. "Things are getting strange." She muttered to herself as she listened to the quiet breathing of her parents next door. "Very strange indeed."

* * *

Aphrodite watched from her room through the mirror on her wall. She had been watching Percy's dreams, witnessing them with him. She watched both Annabeth and Percy in their sleep, not in the creepy-ax-murderer way but in scientist-observing-an-experiment way. She had planted the snow globe, she knew what went on through Percy's head and how to go about this plan.

* * *

**A/N**

**Review?**

**I don't have much work so'll I'll try to update more but I need to think out my story/ chapters a lot more because right now I'm just going with whatever I can think of off the top of my head. The next chapter will be a lot better**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**

**So I got lazy, which isn't an excuse but I would like to thank ****_Daughter of Athena 20_**** for her review recently, which motivated me to pick up this story so yay thank you**

**Also, Enchanted99 in response to your review, Annabeth does not remember anything about her past life, thanks to Aphrodite, which later comes into play at a point in the story**

**Chapter Five:**

"Remind me why _both_ of us had to send you back to school?" Thalia spoke up from the backseat as Rachel drove and Percy sat shotgun. "I need to go find one of my charges and beat some sense into her. No offense to Percy but even he could take on this mission alone." She was miffed by the choice of seats and how one of her Hunters had run off with a boy.

"Hey!" Percy protested. "I'm not as weak as you think I am. I can take you on any day."

"Sure thing Seaweed- Brain." Thalia shot back, ignoring his glare at her nickname for him. He had asked her to stop using the old name but it was so much more fun for her to watch him squirm in his seat. She smirked and leaned back to take a nap.

Rachel's green eyes watched her from the rear view mirror, pretending to check the car behind her. Thalia's strange reaction to her statement about Annabeth set her on edge. Was there something that Thalia knew about her vision? Then why would she keep Percy from knowing the truth?

Percy glanced sideways at Rachel. "Hey, it's fine, we won't be late, this is just typical Manhattan traffic." Rachel smiled back convincingly. If only he knew what really was on her mind.

* * *

Percy was wrong. They wouldn't get to school on time. "Quick," he panted, breathlessly, "Go." Thalia slammed against the back of Rachel's headrest. "Ouch." She grumbled, rubbing her forehead. He had persuaded Rachel to drive at breakneck speed to Goode High School, not even stopping to care about the several hundred students staring at the screeching of tires as she tried to prevent them from crashing into the principal's car in front of them .

"Thanks!" Rachel tumbled out and ran as fast as she could up the stairs to get to homeroom, hoisting her bag on one shoulder. Percy quickly shifted over to the left to sit in the driver's seat. Had he spent a second longer, he would have seen familiar stormy gray eyes in the crowd that had gathered. However, the sound of police sirens had come from down the block. He stomped on the pedal and drove off before the police could catch him. Thalia muttered curses as she banged into the door and the back of the seats as Percy drove wildly.

"Watch it!" She yelped, as they nearly hit a cat lady crossing the street to chase a fat tomcat. "Zeus, who taught you to drive like this? Did you have a blind guy as your proctor when you took your driving test?" She could feel several bruises appearing on her arm. She supposed this was what she deserved for letting him drive and not wearing her seat belt.

"No one," he shot back. "I learned about five seconds ago."

Thalia gaped back. "You'll kill both of us!" She frantically tried to push him from the seat and switch spots, which only succeeded in swerving the car left and right and causing a loud cacophony of car honks.

"Maybe if you would stop trying to push me we could both live! Would you prefer jail or getting away safely?" He face was red, flushed with anger. On a second thought he added. "Plus we're both immortal."

"Jerk! This isn't even remotely safe at all!" Thalia stopped trying to wrench the steering wheel away and resorted to hitting him. "At least get us back to camp in one piece if you're not going to cut the speed."

"Ow!"

* * *

Annabeth stared from her spot in the crowd as the minivan nearly crashed into Principal Water's car. A red haired girl darted out from the driver's seat and ran for the school entrance, yelling "Thanks!" to the people in the car. The car started up again, just as police sirens could be heard down the block. A flash of black hair gleamed in the sun and a salty sea breeze blew through the air. The whole thing suddenly seemed very familiar. Suddenly, a vision came over her, a remnant of an old memory.

_Hey! Give that back!_ _A blond girl laughed, trying to chase down a boy wearing swim trunks running across the beach, sand flying everywhere. The boy stopped, smirking as he held a Yankees baseball cap above his head. His mischievous green eyes drew her in, as she felt goosebumps rise on her skin. _

Annabeth blinked. What was going on with her? A sudden feeling of nostalgia and hurt came over her. She doubled over, grabbing her sides, trying to catch her breath. Castille grabbed her arm to steady her. "You okay?"

She straightened up. "Yeah." She should get herself checked or something, these weird sensations simply wouldn't do. She spied a bag lying on the ground. _Property of R.E.D._ Castille frowned. "I think that red haired girl dropped it."

Annabeth had an idea. "I'll give it to her." She wanted to find out more about that red haired girl.

* * *

Rachel darted in and out through the crowd, hiding in the alcove of the water fountain, then behind a statue of William Goode, the founder of the school. She sighed in relief and walked up the empty staircase to her right.

"Avoiding someone?" Rachel screamed and jumped back down half a flight of stairs. Annabeth strolled out the shadows, rolling her eyes at Rachel's dramatic response.

"Gods of Olympus, you scared me." Rachel tried to calm her thumping heart. "I thought you learned to shadow travel like Nico."

Annabeth frowned. "What? Shadow travel? Who's Nico? And what's with all those weird references to Greek gods when you talk?"

"Don't tell me you don't know," Rachel stood more confidently. "I mean you haven't forgotten 'Seaweed Brain' have you?" Annabeth just stood there and stared, wondering if Rachel was mentally unstable.

Rachel sighed. "Never mind. What were you looking for me for?"

Annabeth shifted from foot to foot. "I was just wondering…. who was the guy in the car you were with this morning?" She blurted out the last bit quickly, almost too fast for Rachel to catch. She didn't want Rachel to think she was jealous or anything. Rachel hid her smile. Maybe she could watch how this played out. "Annabeth," Rachel smiled brightly. "How would you like to meet him?"

* * *

Aphrodite clenched her fists tightly. What was the Rachel girl doing? Getting caught with Percy in front of the entire school? And now here she was, trying to mess up her plan and introduce Percy to Annabeth way ahead of time. But perhaps she could use this to her advantage. After all, the whole ordeal was terribly boring, even with her interference every once in a while. Adding a pinch of trouble and a dash of drama would liven things up. She could manipulate Rachel instead of directly affecting Percy and Annabeth's emotions. Maybe the mortals would be smarter this time.

* * *

"Percy." Chiron trotted into the Poseidon cabin. "Apparently there's another demigod at Rachel's school. Thalia is preparing to leave tomorrow so I think we need to tighten the security at Goode. However this new student has no idea of what she truly is so I've gone ahead and enrolled you at Goode."

Percy stood up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." He held his hands up defensively. "Alright, one, do I not get a say in this matter? Two, is this just a nice way of kicking me out? Where am I supposed to live?"

Chiron scratched his chin for a minute, pretending to stare out the window.

"Oh no," Percy backed away in horror, hitting the bunk bed behind him. "You can't be serious."

"Percy, there is nowhere else you can go, unless you're willing to drive more than a hour each day." Chiron gazed at him with sympathy. "I know it's too soon but given the years you've had-"

"I can't. I can't live in my mom's apartment. Do you think I can go through realizing that I've let yet another person I care about fade away? I can't go back there and see anything that will remind me of my mom."

Chiron held Percy's gaze for several seconds. A knock sounded on the door. Thalia stepped in. "Let's go for a walk."

Percy tensed when they got to the beach, wondering if Thalia was going to beat him up. If she made an offensive move, the sea was right in front of him, his second home. She was a lot smarter than that. Instead, she sat down on the beach and patted the space next to her. He hesitated, wondering what she was up to. She glared and he sat down obediently.

The two of them sat there, watching the waves crash and recede. The emerald green depths resembled his eyes, as Percy had been told several times by the Aphrodite girls.

"Percy." Thalia's voice jolted him out of the hypnotic sounds of the waves. "It's been years since everyone died."

_Fifteen years, _Percy thought. It had been fifteen years since everyone he knew had died, and yet he wasn't over anyone. He felt a flash of anger. Why was he expected to get over everything so easily? Was he not allowed to have feelings? He didn't need to listen to them, he was a god, he had all the time in the world to mourn. And Thalia, he didn't know how she was able to get over everything so easily.

Thalia looked up, guessing his train of thought. "You think this is easy for me? To watch everyone age while I stay forever young? Each time someone dies and I enter battle, I fight recklessly, just to feel pain and I multiply that by a hundred, to just catch a glimpse of how it feels to the ones I love." She paused briefly, then continued. "Annabeth is my best friend. Your mother was like the one I never had. You're not the only who's going through this, everyone who knows them is. Athena. Poseidon. Chiron."

Percy looked up at the sound of something he couldn't quite register in her voice. Her eyes were slightly moist but she kept talking. "You're Percy Jackson. You're brave, slightly idiotic, and one of the strongest people I know. If I can do it, so can you."

Percy stared at his hands, thinking. "I guess I have no choice do I?"

Thalia grinned, "Unless you want to live in Tyson's old box."

* * *

**A/N **

**Sorry this chapter was short but the next will be longer **

**And also:**

**Thalia does not, will not, and will never have a crush on Percy, just to clear things up**


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